


This Atmosphere is More Toxic than a Human Child

by Joysplosion



Category: Monsters Inc. (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, College, Coming of Age, Flashbacks, Fraternities & Sororities, George Sanderson-Centric, Jaws Theta Chi, Oozma Kappa - Freeform, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:20:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joysplosion/pseuds/Joysplosion
Summary: George Sanderson was fed up.Sure, Oozma Kappa may not have been the scariest group out there, but neither was Jaws Theta Chi! Nor Python Nu Kappa, for that matter!Or; George Sanderson gets sick of Jaws Theta Chi's shit.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	This Atmosphere is More Toxic than a Human Child

**Author's Note:**

> George Sanderson isn't really loved, so I want to give the big guy some attention. He's pretty nice, just grouped in with the wrong people.

George knew.  
George Sanderson knew, yet he still didn't warn them. 

He'd be shunned from his fraternity, surely. Hell, the entire school would target him, much like what they had done to the OKs. The inside of his body was a mix of emotion as he watched the unexpectedly successful fraternity walk towards the middle of the room.  
There was still time, he had told himself. He could... he could shout at them, before Johnny and his goons had the chance to embarrass them. They didn't deserve this, and George knew it. He had the power to stop it, yet he was too scared to. Like a human child scared of a Scarer who was simply doing their job.  
The orange-furred monster, though, knew damn well that it wasn't Roar Omega Roar's job to tell Don and his fraternity where their place was in the world. That is what was making George so angry. 

He would refuse to show his anger, it would give away his stance on the matter.  
_'Don't snap, Georgie,'_ his eyes were wandering around the frat house, _'don't snap. They'll do the same to you.'_

-

"All right, all right." Johnny Worthington was _good._ No, not nice good, but _deceptively_ good. The crowd slowly quieted down on behalf of one of the university's most loved students. "We would like to congratulate ALL the teams that have made it this far."

George had to admit, the facade almost fooled him too. But George was better than that. He could sense auras, and Johnny's definitely wasn't benign.  
Aura-sensing ran in his dad's side of the family, and George decided that it was an amazing ability to have. Surrounded by this many ill-meaning auras, though, was sickening. He could feel his stomach bubbling up, ready to hurl at any minute. He kept that down, too. 

"Let's hear it for the PNKs!" The sorority members, as if part of a cheer-leading team, hissed all at once. George could see some of the members smirking with their makeup-caked faces, their red eyes but a front to hide their truly demonic souls lying within. To be completely honest, George had no idea how or why they all looked so similar- all six of them were from different monster families. George ultimately decided that some monster had cheated on one of their unlucky parents each, conceiving each of their plastic-filled faces.  
The PNKs had been the team to lure the Oozma Kappas to the ROR fraternity house- those who contributed to the plan had agreed that their succubi-like appearances would serve well as bait to the ill-thrown party. George had hated each and every one of them- their cute faces were not enough to deceive the orange-and-yellow furball.  
"I love that trick! Never gets old," Johnny had spoken. The trick, however, did get old, for George at least. It served better as a cheer routine than a tactic to scare kids with.

Johnny gestured towards the second still-standing sorority group, announcing "HSS!" enthusiastically. George had to admit, he liked their style, but they looked less like Scarers and more like the typical I-Hate-Everything band. Actually, they were an a Capella group, and a damn good one at that. Their album was sold on campus to raise money for their team uniforms.  
Although they look terrifying and mysterious, George hadn't seen them in the Ruin OK meeting, which earned them more than enough respect in his book. Speaking of which, all of them looked like they absolutely despised to be here. George tried to get a clear reading of their Aura, but the bad intent of the monsters around him made it impossible to do so.  
In response to Johnny's acknowledgement, HSS's leader, Rosie Levin, displayed a curt hiss in Johnny's direction.  
_'Yeah, they're pretty cool. Better than ROR, in fact.'_ George would never say this aloud in the company of his fraternity brothers.

"Ve-very creepy! And finally, the surprise team of the scare games..."  
George noticed how Johnny used his hand movement to gesture to the bullies on the second floor, all of which were ready to spill a nice bucket of paint on each of those seven monsters. Subtle, George had to admit. And a waste of good paint.

"Oozma Kappa!" There was a short pause, a pause in which Johnny let the crowd cheer for the OKs before he would cruelly stab them in the back with a heart-shaped knife. "Well, I gotta admit, fellas. I thought you were a bunch of nobodies. But, boy, was I wrong. Let's hear it for Oozma Kappa!"

George locked eyes with one of the monsters from Oozma Kappa. The purple, arch-shaped monster who seemed like a free spirit. What was his name..? Right, it was Art. He seemed like a very caring fellow, too. George had noticed, during the first round of the Scare Games, that the arched monster had swooped into the toxic urchins for an affectionate yet cruel hug. He didn't deserve this, his teammates didn't deserve this.  
In that split second while their eyes were connected, George took that moment to mouth his regrets.  
_'I'm sorry... I failed you.'_  
Art's eyes narrowed a little in confusion before being splashed with a wave of blue paint.

"The most.... _adorable_ monsters on campus."

The orange and yellow monster watched as his fellow scare game members got pelted with glitter, flowers, and stuffed animals- in that order.  
The laughter was sickening. 

George felt awful, he had been a member of the party that knew of this event to come and he didn't do anything to stop it. He frowned, quite unlike his JOX brothers. They were laughing. They were cruel.  
George was cruel. 

\----------

An eight-year-old George Sanderson ran across the field, laughing jovially. His teammates ran beside or in front of him, congratulating his rather brave act.  
He had swiftly tripped the kid on the opposite team who had the ball. The little monster was a quadruped, and although quadrupeds had better balance than bipedal monsters, George knew that it took quite a bit of coordination to be able to quickly run across a field. As the monster had passed him, the orange and yellow blanket stuck out one of his feet, and down the kid went.

He had been encouraged by the popular kid on the team to do so. A slightly overweight monster that reminded George of lions, the kid had told George that if he did as he said, then George would be given a Scare Card from their collection.  
George collected Scare Cards. His classmates knew that fact quite well about him, for he never walked too far without naming a monster and their background. Not that his classmates knew, but he had always carried his favorite Scarer's card around in his jacket- for good luck, of course.

George's teammate kicked the black and white soccer ball into the goal, winning the game between the two schools. The whistle blew, and each and every parent came up to their child, congratulating them. Happiness was the embodiment of the area, George could feel their positive energy rolling in waves off of each monster, and in return he was soaking in it as if it were a nice bath. George had turned in the direction of the bleachers, facing his mom...  
But his mom looked far from happy.

Anger, in fact, graced her usually calm face, and with a fury only moms could achieve, George heard his name being said. "George, we need to _talk_."

Oh no. Talks weren't good.  
He could feel his mother's Aura. It felt like... like the sun on a particularly hot day, concentrated enough to burn one's skin and sharp enough to make one bleed. Was he bleeding? George looked at his arms, but they were just fine- despite the sensation of a hot, sharp knife pressing its point into his skin. His sights and senses didn't match up, and it confused him, disoriented him....

All of it became a blur as clawed hands scooped the orange and yellow unicorn into arms, and he was taken to the car.  
Swiftly buckled in, and just as quickly as that, his mom had pressed the go pedal in the car and off they were. No more soccer that day.

"What were you _thinking._ " She was seething. His mother was seething, at _him._

"I-I don't-"

"That's _not_ what a good athlete does, George!"

"Not wha-?"

"NOT _WHAT?!_ You tripped that kid, George! They could have gotten really hurt!"  
Oh. George hadn't thought of that, and it must've shown in the rear view mirror, because his mother told him something that he would never forget.

George, the whole _point_ of sports is to have fun! Cheating does _not_ make it fun, and neither does teasing the other team! Sure, you may laugh now, but that child will hold a grudge against you for a _long time._ They _will_ get you back for that, and that is one of the reasons why you _have_ to maintain good sportsmanship! Got it?"

\----------

He felt helpless as he watched his fellow students walk out of the building with heavy hearts. It felt like Mom berating him again, although now her anger reached to attack the group of monsters wronged by Johnny Worthington. They were like the kid he had tripped back when he was eight. They looked hurt, betrayed, humiliated... and most importantly, when he looked into the eyes of James P. Sullivan, he saw a desire to get revenge on the person who had hurt him and his team.  
In his peripheral vision, George took notice of Eta Hiss Hiss, all of whom frowned in disapproval and walked out the frat house. He figured they didn't take shit from anybody. Maybe he should follow their example. 

A nudge to his right was felt in the sea of laughing stude-... toddlers.

"Why aren't you laughing, Georgie? This is hilariou-!"  
"It's not, Percy."

The purple monster's laughing died down a lot. He and his JOX brothers turned to stare at George Sanderson, one of the only few people that attended the Frat House that night without laughing.  
"They were covered in glitter! Flowers! _Stuffed animals!_ " His frat mates piped up in a roar of laughter once more, but George spoke up.

"They were covered in pain, betrayal, and humiliation."

Dick Pratt spoke up from his left. "C'mon, man, learn to take a jok-!"

"That wasn't a joke, Dick. That was an act of emotional manipulation."  
His voice was quiet, serious. He was tired of seeing shit like this happen, and it didn't matter if it happened to him or other people.

"If it weren't for them, we would have gotten through the first act!-" Roy was angrily interrupted.

"NO. If it weren't for Omar smuggling illegal gel through the first event, we would have made it at least this far!" George felt the eyes of JOX staring at him, judging him. "Don't even bring up that 'we would've won' crap, because that's not how shit works! Sulley and Mike would have crossed that finish line without their team members, and we still would have been able to pass said team members! And, sure, they might not be the most scary monsters on campus, but NEWS FLASH! I LOOK LIKE A GIANT TEDDY BEAR!"

George was thankful that the laughs of the crowd were blocking out his voice, despite how loud he was getting.

"What are you even angry at Oozma Kappa for?! That they worked hard and found an intuitive way to win the first few rounds of the Scare Games?! That... that YOU GUYS aren't smart enough to take a clear look at the world around you and come up with a plan like they have?  
Since I joined this group, I have contributed _NOTHING_ because you _don't listen_ to my opinion! I told you guys this was a bad idea, but you abandoned my voice in favor of... of what, being a cool kid? On and ON you guys refuse to show basic compassion, all because of your inability to feel for other monsters!  
As of this moment, I REVOKE my status as a Jaws Theta Chi fraternity member!" 

-

Severing ties never felt more free, George Sanderson had thought, walking towards the fraternity office with his stuff in a suitcase. His JOX jacket no longer wrapped around his furry body, he had ripped it to pieces in front of his former members. Surely, a few monsters would have overheard the conversation, but none of them should care enough to.. well, care.  
It was late in the night, now. The humiliation had taken place around ten, and it was about midnight now. 

The crickets sounded gorgeous and the moon felt just right. He let the night air fill his lungs, more content than he had been about two hours ago. Though, there was one more problem he had... he didn't have a place to sleep.  
No matter. He was just glad he was away from the ill-intent. Hauling his suitcase over his shoulder, he walked up the steps to the office, knocked a few times, and walked in.

"Hello?"  
The voice of Claire Wheeler entered his ears (not that he had any) and he spun around to meet her eyes.

"Um, yes. I.. came to request somethi-"

"If it's to re-enter your team in the Scare Games, no."

"What? No, that's-"

"The door's right there, Sanderson."

"I-"

"I don't support cheaters in the Games-"

"I WANT TO LEAVE JAWS THETA CHI!" 

Both Claire and George blinked, taken aback by how loud George had gotten.  
The crickets suddenly sounded louder than an airplane. The silence filled the room, leaving both monsters blinking at one another, before Claire finally spoke.

"You... want to leave Jaws Theta Chi?"

"Uh... y-yeah."

"Is there any reason... why?"

"They just... um. I don't feel comfortable when I'm around them."  
George felt Claire take in his appearance, and he continued, although awkwardly.

"They... they pressure me into doing things that I don't want to do. They continually disregard my opinion, and... and I... they're just. They're really, really sketchy.  
Please let me leave them...."

"..."

"..."

"...Alright. Here's the paperwork. But... are you sure you're gonna be alright? You don't have a place to sleep,"

"That doesn't matter. I'm free of them."

\-------------

He felt it. From the first time he gazed upon the leader, Roy O'Growlahan, he felt... uncomfortable.  
Their aura was.... hard to explain, definitely. But if he had to describe the things that the aura reminded him of, George would have to say a child's creepy teenage babysitter.

JOX turned out to be the embodiment of just that. They were pervy, listened only to their gut and greed, and had a general disregard for personal space. One such memory makes itself prominent if one were to say, 'slob.'  
Baboso Goreleyu. It was the first night George was going to spend in the JOX frat house, and his roommate was Baboso. Disgust had graced George's features the second he stepped inside the room. The floor was littered in trash and crumbs, there were a few spots in the carpet that would stick to George's fur, and the walls were stained in something that he wouldn't touch with a 50 foot pole.  
Sure, the stains may have been soda, but George still wasn't gonna touch them, his fur fell off easily.

And.. the bed. Some of it was covered in slobber, and some of the sheets were ripped apart haphazardly. George had asked Percy where the vacuum was.  
Percy had pointed to Roy, who's stomach growled in turn.

During his time at the frat house, George Sanderson would say that he never slept well there. Ever.


End file.
